Witchcraft From the Inside: Origins of the Fastest Growing Religious Movement in America

This text asserts the truth about where witchcraft has been, where it is now and where it's heading. This book presents an overview of witchcraft from its prehistoric origins in sympathetic magick, its repression with the rise of Christianity, the Burning Times of the 16th and 17th centuries, Gerald Gardner's initiation of the 1950s Wiccan revival, through to today's growing Craft movement. Buckland offers an insider's view of contemporary Wicca - how covens are formed and structured, the various branches of Wicca, Wiccan rituals, sabbats and esbats, performing ritual magic, working skyclad and using magical tools. He then goes on to discuss Wicca's future, with material by contributing Wiccan authors Ed Fitch, Selena Fox, Michael Ragan and Zsuzanna Budapest on such sujects as teens and Wicca and feminist Wicca. This revised edition includes a new chapter on the Salem witchcraft trials.

This is a complete history of witchcraft, including its origins in prehistory, its decline in the dark ages and its rebirth in the 20th century, as collected by an insider rather than a detached observer. I found the book to be well researched and documented, which more than did justice to the subject matter. While I enjoyed the information accumulated in a cover-to-cover reading, Witchcraft from the Inside is also a valuable reference tool.